Disappearing into South Africa's wild places… Again!

Hluhluwe-Imfolozi’s tree climbing lions

Lions are not generally known for their tree-climbing abilities, and there’s only a handful of prides on the African continent that seem to have this skill and regularly use it. We’ve often heard of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi‘s lions‘ tree-climbing tendencies, but we never saw this for ourselves, despite visiting the Park frequently and enjoying many sightings of these regal cats there.

That is until early morning on Boxing Day 2014, and what an unbelievable sight! We found a lioness (on the ground) with two rather large cubs in a small thorn tree. I did not think that something as big as a lion could get so high up in a flimsy-looking thorn tree, and then be so well camouflaged at that!

Oh my!!! Such an incredible sight!!!! I could never think about this possibility…When I was in Botswana I saw leopards…But lions, cubs and mums were always lying on the floor…And you are right…I imagine they must be very careful, bacause those thorns look dangerous!!! Thanks a lot for sharing this with us!!!

I don’t think that has been established with any degree of certainty yet; theories range from escaping the heat to avoiding biting insects, but these factors also occur in most other places in Africa where the lions are far less inclined to climb trees.

How incredible and what an amazing experience!!! I’ve only seen lion on the ground and for them to be in a thorn tree is just unbelievable. The tree looks like it’s hardly going to support their weight but obviously does. Thanks so much for sharing this. Too cool 😉 🙂 🙂

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